Portions of this collection have been digitized and made available online

The North Carolina State University, College of Engineering, Department of Nuclear Engineering Records include correspondence, short course materials, minutes, contracts, budget information, brochures, and subject files relating to the United States Atomic Energy Commission, teaching of nuclear engineering, the nuclear reactor on campus (1950s), and the Nuclear Engineering program.

The Nuclear Engineering program at North Carolina State University continues its traditional role in educational leadership and innovation. Over the years, the program has sought to meet the needs of the time and to anticipate future developments. The department is home to the first university-based nuclear reactor for teaching and research, which continues to provide graduates with the hands-on experience needed for professions in utility companies, government energy and defense agencies, national laboratories, nuclear plants and private companies.

Biographical/historical note

The nuclear engineering program at North Carolina State University continues its traditional role in educational leadership and innovation. Over the years, the program has sought to meet the needs of the time and to anticipate future developments. In 1950, Clifford Beck, then of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, obtained support from N. C. State's Dean of Engineering, Harold Lampe,for the idea of building the nation's first university nuclear reactor and establishing the first university nuclear engineering educational curriculum. New faculty joining Dr. Beck included A. C. Menius, Jr., Raymond Murray, Arthur Waltner, and Newton Underwood. The team successfully met and overcame the challenges of the period after World War II: resistance to an entirely new discipline, the absence of textbooks, and security limitations on information about reactors. Approval was secured to offer the Ph.D.degree, in addition to the M.S. and B.S. degrees.

The early student body consisted of a number of highly qualified U.S. Air Force officers, who set standards of excellence for students to come later. Graduates of nuclear engineering now are leaders in government, industry, and education. A high percentage of the graduates entered university teaching. The nuclear engineering faculty was among the group that presented special training to foreign scientists and engineers in the Atoms for Peace program, an experiment in sharing nuclear technology on an international basis. North Carolina State's pioneering experiment in nuclear education became the center of attention of the United States and the world. In the early days of nuclear reactor research and development, the curricula were highly science oriented. More recently, greater emphasis been placed on engineering applications. Research by the faculty and graduate students in basic subjects such as nuclear physics and reactor theory has been supplemented by studies of many engineering topics and radiation applications.

Paralleling the transition in the nuclear field from basic experiments to commercial power, the nuclear program at N. C. State has built and operated a sequence of reactors: a water boiler, an MTR plate type reactor, and the present 1-megawatt PULSTAR, with uranium oxide fuel and pulsing capability. Each reactor has been used for student training, research, and services to other organizations in North Carolina and the United States. Services and training have included neutron activation analysis, reactor operator training, neutron radiography, radioisotope production and special courses.

The undergraduate curriculum achieved and has maintained engineering accreditation. The curriculum has consistently provided well-rounded undergraduate training. The ranks of the faculty expanded after 1963 to include Albert Carnesale, Kuruvilla Verghese, Thomas Elleman, Raymond Saxe, James Bohannon, Ephraim Stam, Robin Gardner, Lloyd Zumwalt, and Jerome Kohl. Authorization was gained from the North Carolina General Assembly to construct the Burlington Engineering Laboratories, which now house the department and the new reactor.

For the first decades of the program, much of the financial support was from the federal government through grants, fellowships, and research contracts. More recently, the maturing nuclear industry has taken part of the responsibility for encouraging high school graduates to elect nuclear engineering and for supporting the education of these future employees.

The program continues to grow, both in the number of faculty members and in the scope of its offerings. Important recent additions include the Center for Engineering Applications of Radioisotopes, the Electric Power Research Center, the Thermal Hydraulics Laboratory, the Nuclear Materials Research Laboratory, and the Fusion and Plasma Research and Teaching Program. Each of these activities is in the exciting forefront of the nuclear field.

Additional information and resources on the history of the Department of Nuclear Engineering can be found through the NCSU Historical State website.

List of Department Heads

1961 - 1964

H. A. Lamonds

1964 - 1974

Raymond L. Murray

1974 - 1979

Thomas Elleman

1979 - 1980

R. F. Saxe, acting head

1980 - 1990

Paul J. Turinsky

1990 - 2001

Donald J. Dudziak

2001 - 2006

Paul J. Turinsky

200?-

Yousry Azmy

Scope/content

The North Carolina State University, College of Engineering, Department of Nuclear Engineering Records include correspondence, short course materials, minutes, contracts, budget information, brochures, and subject files relating to the United States Atomic Energy Commission, teaching of nuclear engineering, the nuclear reactor on campus (1950s), and the Nuclear Engineering program.

Physical description

Arrangement

The collection is organized into six different series: General Records, Summer Orientation Institute in Nuclear Engineering, Nuclear Reactor, Nuclear Reactor Notebook, Short Courses, and Unprocessed Records. The internal arrangement within most of these series is chronological, except for General Records, which is alphabetical by topic.

Use of these materials

The nature of the NCSU Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NCSU Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], North Carolina State University, College of Engineering, Department of Nuclear Engineering records, UA 105.016,
Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

Portions of this collection have been digitized and made available online

Additional materials, including those not available online,
may be available for viewing in the Special Collections reading room in D.H. Hill Library.
Certain formats may require the creation of an access copy and will require additional advanced notice.

These records contain brochures, correspondence, curriculum plans, degree proposals flyers, lectures, memos, project plans, self study plans, and seminar announcements relating to the Nuclear Engineering program at North Carolina State University (NCSU) from 1955-1995. Included are several lectures and speeches give by Dr. Raymond L. Murray, one of the founders of the Nuclear Engineering program at NCSU.

The institute was an eight-week program held from June 18, 1962 to August 10, 1962 at North Carolina State University and was attended by fourteen participants from educational institutions all over the United States. Included in these records are the "Final Report" of the institute; laboratory manuals for the Nuclear Physics and Nuclear Reactors sessions; lecture notes for the "Economics of Nuclear Power," "Heat Transfer Problems of the Nuclear Reactor," and "Nuclear Instrumentation" classes; and the "Nuclear Reactor Simulation Experiment 26" report.

Final Report, Appendices A-G 1962

Box 2, Folder 1

Energy Transfer 1962

Box 2, Folder 2

Instrumentation 1962

Box 2, Folder 3

Mathematics 1962

Box 2, Folder 4

Nuclear Physics 1962

Box 2, Folder 5

Reactor Theory 1962

Box 2, Folder 6

Economics of Nuclear Power 1964

Box 2, Folder 7

Nuclear Reactor 1950-1990

These records contain the correspondence concerning the demolition, dedication invitation and program, description of the facility, PULSTAR annual report, PULSTAR Technical Specifications, reports dealing with the nuclear reactor, and microfilm of logs documenting the use of the reactor. Materials range in date from 1950 to 1990.

Press Release or Dedication Ceremony Shortly After The Reactor Went Critical in 1953

CD-R

Carton 9

Nuclear Reactor Digitization Project Records 1999(2013.0095)

Carton 9

Modern Reactor Footage undated(2013.0095)

Digital Videocassette

Carton 9

Nuclear Reactor undated(2013.0095)

VHS tape

Carton 9

Untitled undated(2013.0095)

Digital Minicassette

Carton 9

STA. "ALGEBRA' #305; Atomic Reactor Dedication (AV6.FM.1)

16mm Reel

Reactor Footage - transfer from 8mm 1951-1953(AV9.VT.1)

Contains footage of the various construction phases of the nuclear reactor.

VHS tape

Carton 9

Reactor footage from 8mm 1951-1953

Contains footage of the various construction phases of the nuclear reactor.

DVD

Carton 9

Murray undated (AV7.FM.77)

Reel 77

Atomic Reactor Dedication, WPTF Broadcast - NC State undated

16mm film reel

transferred from UA 024, 2 November 2016 by Jennifer Baker

Oversize reel box 26

Nuclear Reactor Notebook 1950-1999

This notebook was arranged and compiled by Dr. Raymond L. Murray. It contains correspondence, memos and notes dated from 1950 to 1954 and addressed to Dr. Clifford K. Beck from Dr. Murray and Dr. Arthur C. Menius, Jr., with a few pieces of correspondence from Mr. Joe G. Lundholm, Jr. and Dr. Harold A. Lamonds.

Explanatory Notes 1999

Box 3, Folder 12

Further Notes on Characteristics of N.C. State Research Reactor September 10, 1950

Accession 2014.0118 is organized into two chronological groups. One dates to the 1980s and earlier up to the early 1990s, and the other appears to date from the mid 1990s to the early 2000s. Each group is arranged alphabetically.

Preliminary Drawings of Section Elevation Reactor Gas and Water System and Plenum Chamber Details 1955

Flat folder 1

Powerpoint Presentation of Anniversary of the Nuclear Engineering Department December 2000

Access to the collection

This collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice.
Because of the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials,
access to digital files may require additional advanced notice.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], North Carolina State University, College of Engineering, Department of Nuclear Engineering records, UA 105.016,
Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

Use of these materials

The nature of the NCSU Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NCSU Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.